Love at First Sight (Harry Potter)

The Triwizard Tournament

|ALEXANDRIA WEASLEY'S P.O.V|

Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled. They swayed dangerously, so much so that all of us inside were being jerked between one another and the walls. Water splashed up high against the windows as the wheels drug through deep puddles.

Harry was sat beside me, staring out of the droplet-ridden glass at the approaching Hogwarts castle. Past the profile of his face, I could see the looming lights blurred and shimmering through the thick curtain of rain.

Lightning flashed across the sky as the carriage gave another sudden, powerful jolt. Ron, who was sat on my other side, slid suddenly into my hip. A sharp, searing pain spread throughout the entire left side of my body. I hissed as I was thrown into Harry, my fingers gripping at the hem of my blouse.

"Would you bloody try to hold onto something, you complete prat!"

"Don't call me a prat, you prat!"

I gasped at him as he pressed his rear harder into my hip purposely, until I was all but a part of Harry. I gave a quick, hard slap to the back of Ron's shoulder. He flung himself off of me and against the wall, staring at me in great shock as he clutched his shoulder. I only glared back at him, still holding my hip.

"You've done it now," he said, his nose twitching. He released his shoulder and attempted to lunge, to which I prepared to do the same with my hand help up to deliver another slap, but Harry's arms suddenly wrapped around the outsides of mine.

I was sealed in his warm embrace as he pulled me to the right, out of Ron's reach. He then stuck his left hand out, pressing his palm against Ron's forehead to keep him at a distance.

"You two have spent enough time together over the holiday," said Hermione with a roll of her eyes. She was sat across from us, beside Neville — who looked quite bewildered. She clamped her book shut and then dropped it on her lap. "Ron, sit!"

Ron grumbled something beneath his breath as he shoved Harry's wrist away, fixing himself correctly into his seat. Harry then leaned his head down to glance at me. Before he could speak, I wretched myself out of his grip and then stood with my neck bent as to not hit it on the ceiling.

The carriage swayed and jolted again, causing for me to wobble. Harry's hand reached out again, in attempt to help steady me, but I turned out of his reach and sat myself between Hermione and Neville.

People who had occupied the first of the carriages, in front of ours, were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle by now. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and I jumped down from our own carriage a few minutes later. Together, we dashed up the steps too, looking up only once we were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.

"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak — ARRGH!"

A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. I let out a loud, joyous bout of laughter as I watched him: Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped. My laughter ceased as it narrowly missed Hermione and I, bursting at out feet and sending a wave of cold water over our shoes into our stockings. People all around us had begun to shriek; they started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire, all either covering their heads with folded arms or staring upward and pointing.